Defending Chick Lit!

Without rambling on telling you about what this wonderful sub-genre of Romance (thought some find this debatable), here are two great definitions of Chick Lit: Definition One and Definition Two.

Last night in the Lounge of a Fiction class of mine, and I was bombarded with questions about Chick Lit, from a very passionate (and that’s putting it nicely) man, who seemed to love to talk about writing.  He had me explain what Chick Lit is and he didn’t seem convinced, and debated with me about if there really such a thing.  “Yes, there really is,” I wanted to scream.  Okay, so it was a he, I was talking to, but for someone who seemed so literary well-rounded, he wasn’t open to anything I had to say, or at least that’s how he made it seem.  Newsflash: Some men do read Chick Lit!  The more and more I keep on writing Chick Lit, I’m getting a lot of the same reactions.

I’m sure that most people think of it as a “love story,” a “chick novel,” or like a “romance movie.”  Yes, I agree with all of these.  Chick Lit can be like that, but it’s so much more.  It’s as the character is fitting herself into her body.  By the end of the book, most women, and some men, I’m sure will walk away feeling refreshed, and have a better understanding if the Heroine, and maybe even relating to her too.

I don’t get why people feel this way, and act as if it’s not a “real,” part of fiction.  It’s very popular, one that I predict will eventually, stand on its own.

There are many popular Chick Lit writers, Emily Giffin, Jennifer Weiner, Candace Bushnell, and Sophie Kinsella, just to name a few.  One day, I hope to add my name to this wonderful list of inspiring writers, but until then, I have a lot of work to do…